Unión Adarve 1-0 Real Madrid Castilla

First things first: you are completely forgiven for overlooking the fact that last weeks new low for Castilla was not followed up by a report. I sat down after the 0-0 bore-fest with relegation bound Segoviana, and stared at my laptop for an hour. These generically negative articles are taking their toll, and I felt I had nothing left to write. This weeks new low would be different. Unión Adarve were also fighting to avoid the drop, and Castilla had to make the dastardly 13 minute journey from Valdebebas to the well named Estadio Vicente Del Bosque. The starting line-up was as poor as always, with Álex Martín fielded as a right-back in-front of last weeks man of the match Tejero. Quezada was stuck out on the wing, and Óscar Rodríguez stripped of any attacking freedom like usual. Martín Calderón was called up from the under-19’s and took a seat on the bench.

To quickly summarise: Castilla looked as slow and as lacklustre as ever. 15 minutes in, Óscar Rodríguez’s season went from pretty bad to worse, when he received his second red card of the campaign, for an elbow on his opponent. However, Castilla went on to be the better side of the first half, creating numerous half chances. This to me just signals the standard of the league group this season, which must be one of the worst (or easiest depending on how you look at it) in years. Bar Deportivo B, none of the teams Castilla have played have been anywhere near impressive at all. Any non Santiago Solari managed Castilla would be licking their lips whilst eyeing up that title. A close half finished even, at 0-0.

By 47 minutes, Adarve had already made two substitutions. Castilla who had a man less, were yet to make any. Still, the game could swing either way, and Castilla kept searching for that goal. Quezada came so close with a free kick, which was well saved, before the Adarve glovesman Cristian Parra somehow kept out the rebounded strike. I encourage you to look up these stops, the second save may be the best I have seen. No luck for Castilla. Not long later, it was Belman’s turn to save the whites. He somehow got on the end of a headed attempt, before saving the follow up with his feet. This still wasn’t enough. Castilla had a corner, which was cleared. Adarve countered, and managed to sneak a shot past Belman to give the hosts the lead. Of course. Straight away, they got the ball and curled a shot the wrong side of the post. Castilla were yet to make any attacking changes, and brought Campuzano off prior to the goal for Seoane. Cristo and Mancebo were brought in, but it was far too late. The only other chances fell to Adarve, who thankfully missed them to spare further embarrassment. The final whistle went, to signal another dismal result for Santiago Solari’s boys.

I originally was oblivious that the kick off time for this game had been changed from late night to midday, due to the first teams fixture. This was a big shame for me, as Castilla would have only ruined my weekend as it was about to end. Instead, I am sat here feeling as frustrated as always, but now I have to carry that around for the rest of the day. From the game, I made these notes:

Javier Belman

We’ve been here before. Belman had a good game, and was Castilla’s best player. If things stay the same, he will be one of the only players to impress this season. I’m not sure how long Luca Zidane is out for, and it seems to be dragging, but when he is finally back it’ll be interesting to see who gets the starting spot.

Quezada, Óscar, and everyone else

They aren’t going to make it at Real Madrid. This good news for the recent graduates who are looking for a first team place, as their only competition is now each other, and the players that Real Madrid are yet to buy. For these current Castilla players, they are going to struggle to attract any potential top division clubs, and must be hugely frustrated by this current system which has failed them.

Relegation

Make no mistake, Castilla are relegation candidates. They haven’t played many teams in the top half of the table, and still can’t win a game. Their game plan is no better than the teams around them, and as it stands they could easily go down. I can’t even picture them in the 4th division, and it would be fatal to the next generation or two of players. Someone at the club is perfectly content with this though. Unbelievable.

Santiago Solari

Welcome to Santi’s circus. Castilla had 10 men today, and after the sending off, they actually recovered pretty well and looked like they knew what they were doing. Solari did not communicate with the players at all, so that was obviously the players’ own doing. In fact, Santiago even killed the match with his ridiculous substitutions. This game was here for the win, and if the changes were played correctly, they would’ve had a huge say in the result. His first change came as Castilla were attacking, and he decided to take off Campuzano, to bring on the defensive Seoane... Castilla then went behind, and Solari failed to make his attacking changes in time. He genuinely brought on Mancebo with 1 minute to go! As I have said before, everything that can be said - has already been said about this complete and utter mickey mouse of a manager. 10 games have gone, and he is still here. I hope if I’m ever this ridiculously terrible at my own job, then my boss rewards me with as many free passes as this donkey has been given. What a dream world that would be. Go away, Santiago...

Next week, for me, brings the biggest fixture of the season - the mini Madrid derby! If they lose that game (and they probably will), then Atlético Madrid will push Real Madrid into the relegation zone, on their own turf. That is surely every Madridista’s worst nightmare. With Santiago Solari, everything is possible, so long as it’s terrible, that is. Solari has made the 10 game milestone that I predicted him, and without a miracle occurring, will somehow maintain his position as the worst football manager in the world. Tune in next week to live out your deepest fear, just in time for Halloween.

Goal: -

Assist: -

MOTM: Belman.